Purpose of the Invention
Exposure to helminths (intestinal worms) such as whipworms have been shown to have a mitigating effect on a number of autoimmune diseases such as Crohn's disease and Ulcerative colitis. This new treatment is known as helminthic therapy and it utilizes the immunoregulatory behavior of helminths in the intestines where orally administered whipworm eggs hatch into larvae which establish for a shorter period of time in a self-limiting intestinal infection.
Only eggs that contain a fully developed larva can induce the positive immune response. Thus, assessment of the medicinal potency is correlated to the proportion of eggs with fully developed larvae in a given egg suspension. The presented invention enables an automated, non-invasive and cost-effective way of assessing the biological potency of a particular egg suspension.
Related Work
Several research papers have studied the use of image analysis to separate parasite eggs of distinct species, including helminths. Yang et al. and others had some success in separating different species of human helminth eggs based on their exterior size and shape. Such approach cannot be used for developmental stages and thereby biological potency since there are no visible differences in the exterior size and shape of eggs that contain a larva and eggs that do not. Similarly, the larvae in the egg may not be fully developed (see FIG. 15) and thereby without the ability to establish in the intestine.